Review #70: Angostura No. 1 Oloroso Sherry

It’s always fun to try interesting cask finished rums, although with the exception of Foursquare, I can’t say that I’ve been a huge fan of the unusual cask maturation. The Angostura No. 1 sounded excellent – I love Oloroso Sherry finished whiskies, and I figured the same would carry over to rum. The rum was released in late fall 2018, joining the Cask Collection of first fill bourbon 2013 and a French oak in 2015. 16,200 bottles were made.

The press releases for the rum have been pretty superlative: “[it is] a masterwork, a one-of-a-kind rum that reaches the highest achievement in the rum world – an exquisite roundness and smoothness without sacrificing personality,” says Angostura’s Chief Executive Officer, Genevieve Jodhan.

Angostura No. 1 Oloroso Sherry

  • Score - 6.5/10
    6.5/10
Overall
6.5/10
6.5/10

Tasting Notes

Nose: Funky oloroso, pickled raisins, rich demerara syrup, molasses, unmistakably Angostura

Palate: Soft vanilla oak note, mahogany juice, vanilla extract, reminds me a bit of Kavalan, dark prunes, blackberries, salty, gingerbread cookies, limes, sugary demerara

Finish: Dry raisin at back palate, black pepper at the end and salt

Summary

Overall: 6.5/10. We wished there were less dosage – and more time aging in the Oloroso sherry casks. 9 months is NOT enough.

Bought for: $34/pour ($106.50 MSRP)

Quick overview of our scoring system. Note that we try to give a “5” for an average whisky, which is lower than standard whisky scoring guides (typically around 80).


Additional Information

  • Column still
  • ABV: 40%
  • Cask: Oloroso sherry
  • Age: 9 months

About Angostura

  • Trinidad and Tobago distillery famous for its bitters and is the only remaining distillery in Trinidad
  • The company moved from Venezuela to Trinidad in 1875 due to taxes
  • Started ageing sourced rum sometime after originally being founded to produce bitters (their bitters are 44% alcohol and distilled from cane sugar, so it is basically a rum) before starting a distillery in 1947
  • Uses its own yeast (same strain since 1947)
  • Is also well-known for its famously tall stills (its standard distilling process goes through all 5 of its tall stills, which are up to 5 stories tall)
Multi-story column stills (picture from Serious Eats)

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